Merlin, the blathering idiot
by Arrow'Nash
Summary: When Merlin loses his magic, he is thrust into a state of depression. Without magic, he's just a nobody. Arthur wonders what's wrong and through his perpetual questioning, Merlin has to think of an excuse. In his panic, he picks the only other secret he holds dear to his heart: Unrequited Love. Merlin. is. an. idiot. How's he going to get out of it? Merthur
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This first chapter is just a short, introductory piece to set the scene of the rest of the story. There will be more chapters to come, don't worry, there are no major character deaths. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

"If I can't use magic, I might as well die." - Merlin 1x01

The arrow comes out of nowhere and Merlin is unprepared. Arthur cries out as it flies past him.

He turns and stares with unbridled horror, expecting to see it lodged in Merlin's chest. His stomach flips and he is relived to see it instead piercing the bark of a tree behind his friend. Then, he sees the blood.

He takes a moment to observe the darkness clinging to Merlin's clothes; The arrow had grazed his arm.

Arthur rushes to his friend's side, part of his brain alert to the danger around them. No one has sprung from the forest as of yet and Arthur is no longer in a hurry to confront the enemy, now that Merlin is hurt.

Merlin's shirt is torn off him, revealing pale flesh. Arthur doesn't notice this, nor does he take in Merlin's pained moans, instead his gaze focuses straight on the wound.

"It's just a scratch, you'll live. Drama queen." He means it to be reassuring but, as always, it comes out as a snide remark.

Now he allows himself a moment to notice the moonlit skin, especially now that it's getting closer.

Arthur's eyebrows raise as Merlin falls into his arms.

They aren't far from Camelot, he realizes with a calm mind that edges itself towards panic as he observes Merlin's limp limbs, his closed eyelids, his quick breathing, the whiteness of his face.

A hand on his shoulder.

He clutches Merlin close to him and whirls around, one hand on his sword ready to run the stranger through. It's Gwaine.

"We could find no trace of them, Sire." Ah yes, his knights.

He had forgotten, in his momentary terror, everything but Merlin and how to help Merlin and god he needs Gaius something has gone wrong.

He hears a voice speaking his thoughts and realizes he's speaking out loud.

Gwaine's eyes widen as he notices Merlin in Arthur's arms. He blends in with the darkness so well, thinks Gwaine.

The knights get him onto Arthur's horse and silently promise his unconscious body they won't discuss how undignified he looks slung over Arthur's lap. They head towards Camelot, towards Gaius.

They don't reach him in time.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter two. It may take a while for the romance to kick in; I'm focusing on Merlin's reaction to his situation at the moment. But we will get there, I promise! Please leave me a review, let me know what you thought!

When Merlin awoke, his vision was foggy and his head was swimming. "Ugh, Arthur." He muttered, groaning with pain as he moved.

He could just about see that it was still night time, but when his vision cleared he was shocked to find that he wasn't in the woods outside of Camelot, but in his own bed, _inside_ of Camelot.

"Gaius!" he shouted, and then inwardly cursed. It wasn't fair to wake him up this late at night.

He heard footsteps immediately after his cry and the door to his bedroom burst open. "Gaius," he croaked, before realizing that no, it wasn't Gaius. It was Arthur.

His eyes immediately shot down to the floorboard where his spellbook was hidden. It was firmly in place, the book safely beneath it.

"No need to be shy, Merlin, I've seen you with your top off before." Arthur grinned, his eyes full of laughter. "Ha. Very funny." Merlin looks up at him, pretending to be annoyed, but he can't help but be grateful that Arthur's there.

It's times like these, when he's in pain, when even the smallest gesture is appreciated.

Arthur's face changed subtly, but it was enough to tell Merlin that he was worried. "Are you alright?"

Merlin nodded, wincing as another jolt of pain flooded his body. "I'll go wake Gaius,"

"No, I'm fine, I-" Merlin called out and then sat up abruptly, clawing at his hair as his head suddenly started clanging with hundreds of warning bells. He could hear them, so loud and now Gaius was there, holding his hand against Merlin's forehead, checking for his temperature.

"Arthur," his voice crackling in Merlin's ears, "Fetch me a wet towel." Arthur nodded, eager to help, and left the room.

Gaius shut the door behind him and turned back to Merlin. "Can you hear me?" He asked the boy gently. Merlin nodded slowly, his eyes shut tight against the pain. "They brought me the arrow that you were cut with. It was of magic, that much I could tell, but it's effects are not discernible. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Well," Merlin tried to sound as normal as possible - he didn't want to worry Gaius - but it was difficult. "I'm in a lot of pain. I could hear lots of loud clanging, but that's starting to go now." He reached inwards with his magic to see if he could find out what was wrong and in doing so, found the problem.

"Gaius," he whispered. "My magic's gone."

"Are you certain?" The old man gripped Merlin's shoulders tightly, aware of how important Merlin's magic was to him.

He nodded, all of a sudden choked up. Without his magic, he was nothing, a nobody. Just Arthur's serving boy and nothing more. Depression reared its ugly head and washed over him, accompanying the cramps in his limbs and making him curl up in a shaking mess.

Arthur chose that moment, when Merlin needed him, but couldn't tell him why, to re-enter the room. "Gaius I-" He stared in bewilderment as Merlin let out a quiet sob. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. Gaius, unable to tell the truth, could only say, "He's in a lot of pain, Arthur."

Arthur handed Gaius the soaking towel and hesitated, unsure whether to comfort his friend or to leave him to Gaius' watchful and experienced eye.

Thankfully, the physician solved it for him, shooing him out of the room. "He needs his rest. He's been through a lot. You can come and see how he is tomorrow, but I recommend you giving him time from his duties to sleep off the pain."

Arthur cringed; he'd have to ask George to serve him for the next few days. _That _was going to be fun. "Of course," he said, bidding Gaius a goodnight, casting one last worried glance to Merlin's now closed door and finally, he left the room.

Gaius sighed; this was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>"There's got to be something, Gaius!" Merlin cried.<p>

His pain had abated after two and a half days. Now he was searching for a remedy, a cure, a way to get his magic back. To do this, however, he had to figure out what magic was contained within the arrow's head. But without his magic, it was tough to do. He could sense nothing, no traces of enchantment, not even the faint hum that he always felt when he touched a magical item. It was taking its toll on him.

"I've only so many resources Merlin and there may be an answer in one of them. Just because we've found nothing so far does not mean there's no hope. You should know that. Patience is key here."

Merlin groaned, slumping in his chair and letting his eyes fall shut. They were tired from all the reading. Old tomes were piled high on the table, but the pile of read books paled in comparison to the amount left to read.

"Do you think Arthur can stand George for a couple more days?" He asked.

"It'll only be so long before he sees you well again. He'll want to know why you didn't call on him."

True to his word, Arthur had come back the next day, but hadn't been back since. Of course Merlin knew that Arthur had duties to attend to, but he missed the other man. Being stuck alone with just Gaius, books and desperation for company was getting boring.

As well as that, he'd lost his magic, his constant companion. He'd lost the reassurance that came with it, the safety, the knowledge that anything could happen and he'd come out the other end, most likely none the worse for it. Now he was vulnerable and paranoid. He wouldn't be able to defend himself against anything, let alone a magical threat.

Did whoever did this to him know how powerful he was? How he protected the kingdom with magic?

Merlin was without so much crucial information and it left him afraid, not for his life, but for Arthur's. He was all that mattered.

It wasn't long before Merlin's eyes snapped open to find Gaius shaking him awake, holding a bowl of porridge in front of him.

He set it down on the table. Merlin grumbled, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Thanks, Gaius," he said, before the weight of his situation came back to him. Hopelessness surrounded him as he fed himself.

It felt like nothing would work this time, like he was out of chances, out of miracles. It had always gone his way before, something had popped up, some cure or way to save the day. Until that happened, Merlin would always be overcome with grief, as if a heavy weight had attached itself to his feet, making it hard to carry on.

"You shouldn't have let me sleep, Gaius, not when there's work to be done."

"You need your rest, boy. Just because the pain has gone away, doesn't mean you aren't sick. Until you stop looking dead where you stand, you're not to complain about me doing my job." These last three words were enunciated very clearly so that Merlin got the message, and get the message he did.

He sighed, "Fine, but you're not stopping me from working on getting back my-" He stopped abruptly as he noticed Arthur standing in the doorway. He looked slightly confused.

"Getting back your what, Merlin?" he asked, curiously.

Gaius turned, cursing that boy's big mouth and thankful that he hadn't finished his sentence.

"My… my health!" Merlin replied, a dopey grin on his face, his eyes lit up.

"You're looking much better, Merlin. Glad to see that you aren't permanently damaged from your little scratch. Don't worry though, we'll find who did this to you and make them pay for their crimes of sorcery." He paused, "Speaking of sorcery, did you find out what enchantment was placed upon the arrow? What caused this?"

"We haven't yet ascertained that, sire. We're still working on it." Gaius replied.

"What does the symbol mean?" Arthur asked.

"What symbol?" The physician stared at him, while Merlin picked up the arrow and turned it over in his hands. He could see nothing. Gaius hadn't mentioned a symbol to him, so he guessed he hadn't seen one either.

"That one," he strode over and held the arrow to Gaius' face, pointing to the middle of the arrow head.

"There is no symbol, Arthur." The physician was torn between being worried for Arthur's mental state and curious about what Arthur thought he could see.

"You mean only I can see it? Well I'm not going crazy, I can assure you. Here, hand me a sheet of parchment and a quill. I'll draw it for you."

When Arthur finished his sketch, Merlin looked up to see Gaius' face contorted into an unreadable expression. "That's the symbol for iron."

He gave Merlin a pointed look, one that gave him a sense of dread. _Iron. _Iron was used to stop sorcerers from using their magic. But how could it have taken his away?

"What does that mean?" Arthur asked, "And why am I the only one who can see it?"

"I don't know, sire, but I'm sure it isn't good."

Later, when Arthur had left, Gaius placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "If iron was used in the enchantment, it may have shielded itself from magic users. That's why neither of us could see it and Arthur could."

"So we need to look for iron based enchantments?" The old man nodded and patted him reassuringly.

"We'll find a solution, Merlin, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so, Gaius, I really hope so."


End file.
